Our Tentative Schedule

Friday, Jan. 4:
- Barack Obama rally at Concord High School, Concord (12:30 p.m.)
- John McCain town hall meeting at VFW Post 5791, Hudson (6 p.m.)

Saturday, Jan. 5:
- John Edwards rally at Bektash Temple Hall, Concord (10:15 a.m.)
- Mitt Romney post-debate rally at Varick's Sports Bar, Manchester (9:15 a.m.)

Sunday, Jan. 6:
- Hillary Clinton rally at Nashua North High School, Nashua (Noon)

Monday, Jan. 7:
- Mike Huckabee rally at Barley House, Concord (Noon)
- Bill Richardson rally at Franco-American Centre, Manchester (6 p.m.)

Tuesday, Jan. 8:
- The New Hampshire Primary

Covering New Hampshire: An Introduction

It’s a five-day firestorm, a political junkie’s paradise. A dozen candidates from both major political parties descended on New Hampshire today as the state prepares for the nation’s first presidential primary on Tuesday, Jan. 8. And we decided to tag along. Over the next several days we will traverse the Granite State ’s snow-covered roads to cover candidates from both sides of the aisle, as well as the student volunteers and alumni who support them.

Following a disappointing second-place finish in Iowa, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the first candidate on the ground, holding a 2 a.m. arrival rally in Portsmouth. After Romney lost to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 34 percent-25 percent, in Iowa, New Hampshire is seen as a must-win for a Romney campaign that must now contend with surging Arizona Sen. John McCain. On the Democratic front, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s first-place finish in the Caucus positioned the first-term member of Congress as the frontrunner in the upcoming battle with former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. The two finished second and third, respectively, in the Caucus, and each must work to stop Obama’s momentum before Tuesday’s voting.

Luckily they don’t have to do it alone, and a handful of Tigers have offered to lend a hand. In addition to students that came up on their own, more than 20 Princeton students, spread across six campaigns (five Democratic, one Republican), arrived in New Hampshire yesterday in a trip organized by the Pace Center program for Civic Engagement Learning. Between now and Tuesday, some of them will log 20-hour days as they give all they’ve got to the candidate of their choice. The race is on, and it’s a sprint to the finish.